China naval blockade of Scarborough Shoal is an act of war; Pres Aquino must protest to UN.

China naval blockade of Scarborough Shoal is an act of war; Pres Aquino must protest to UN.

Following what Philippine media claim as an accidental declaration by a Chinese anchor on a China-run television station that Philippines is an inherent part of Chinese sovereign territory, and the continuing threat by China's vice foreign Minister Fu Ying that China has "... made all preparations to respond to any escalation of the situation by the Philippine side," over the Scarborough Shoal stand-off, we have learned that several China ships have been spotted in the Scarborough waters contradicting China Embassy official statement in Manila that there were no more China military vessels in Philippine's West Philippine Sea.

According to a report, the number of China ships in Scarborough has increased from 14 to 33.

Has China begun a naval blockade of the Philippines' Western seaboard? Let it be known that they are virtually doing that to Scarborough Shoal. A naval blockade of the Western seaboard of the Philippines is tantamount to partial invasion of Philippine territory and can be considered an act of war. 

The Philippine government cannot allow the situation whereby our own nationals are being harassed in our own territory by an aggressive foreign military power. The Philippines must submit a memo to the United Nations to protest the continuing violation by China of our territorial sovereignty.

The Scarborough Shoal is found 130 nautical miles from Philippine baseline which is very much within the 200 Exclusive Economic zone of the Republic of the Philippines as defined by UNCLOS United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. China is found 1200 kms away from the Scarborough Shoal and their deployment of their ships to our territorial waters and can be considered an act of war.

It is no longer enough to have a verbal ping-pong on the ministerial level while China pursues a belligerent policy of military harassment right in our territory. It is the duty of our president, Benigno Aquino III to rouse the United Nations and call for official sanctions on China.